Reggie Yates talks to Metro about an exciting interview with
Jamie Foxx, his new horror film Demons Never Die and the education campaign Hands Up Who’s Bored.

Reggie Yates stars in new British horror film Demons Never Die (Picture: Rex Features)

Whatâs the campaign all about?

Hands Up Whoâs Bored is about making sure citizenship stays in schools. Citizenship lessons are a great opportunity for young peopleÂ to engage on their terms and make sure their rights and responsibilities are discussed.

Why should it stay?

If youâre 15, âpoliticsâ is a big dirty word that doesnât apply to you but citizenship, when taught properly, explains to young people that politics affects them â how often the estate gets cleaned, how much money a single mother is given. It affects them in more ways than we think theyâd be interested in.

Your parents are employed in the public sector â have they noticed any government cuts affecting them?

My mumâs worked in health promotion for years. She taught sex education in school and works with minority groups in health promotion. You get groups of Somali women who donât believe using a condom is the thing to do and it falls on my mum to educate groups such as that. Cuts definitely have an impact on the people she works with.

Youâve just done a low-budget British horror film â what was that like?

Itâs got a fantastic young cast and itâs turned out really well. Itâs a cool set of young people being given a chance to express themselves. Iâm chuffed with what happens with my character. Iâve always watched horror films, it starts when youâre young and you want to impress your mates by saying youâve watched Freddy Krueger, I tend to stay away from them now because Iâm a big girl.

N-Dubzâs Tulisa is in it â how do you rate her acting?

We werenât on set at the same time but Iâve seen a rough cut and sheâs amazing. A lotâs been asked of her in a short section of the film and sheâs fantastic in it.

Are you bothered people see you more as a presenter rather than an actor?

Iâm not concerned with how people position me. My concern is continuing to do projects Iâm passionate about. If things goÂ the way I plan Iâll always be doing something I care about and that Iâm proud of.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Being involved in things Iâve watched my whole life â being on Doctor Who and gettingÂ a part on Grange Hill. Starting to present Top Of The Pops when I was 18 was massive. I still get a buzz when Iâm holding the Top Of The Pops microphone, and being on a national radio station such as Radio 1 was always a dream of mine.

Who have you been most excited to meet?

When I was 21 I interviewed Jamie Foxx and he wasnât that big at the time. It was before he did Ray and was promoting Collateral. No one knew who he was â everyone wanted to interview Tom Cruise . I was supposed to have 15 minutes with him but we got on so well that I hung out with him for an hour. He gave me his email address, which I lost.

Have you patched up your differences with Mariah Carey?

People turned that into something that didnât really exist. The phone just cut off when I was interviewing her. That was it. It happened in a weird way but we made a big thing out of it on our show, then it went on a gossip website and became something it wasnât.

Whatâs the first gig you went to?

I canât remember. I was presenting kidsâ TV before I was old enough to go to gigs and was surprised that the boy bands my sister and her mates went nuts over didnât actually sing.

Have you any musical pet hates?

I hate Auto-Tune. Cherâs Believe is one of the worst songs ever.

What else do you want to do with your career? More acting and more stuff that resonates with the audience I care about, which is young people.